


Reality Ruined My Life

by iforgetlikeanelephant



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-15
Updated: 2012-11-15
Packaged: 2017-11-18 16:46:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/563222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iforgetlikeanelephant/pseuds/iforgetlikeanelephant
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Boys suck, Harry's pretty sure he could be murdered by some dude's pinky finger, Zayn's certain he's dying, and Niall's just happy he's not as invisible as he thought he was.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reality Ruined My Life

**Author's Note:**

> This is the obligatory high school au that any fanfic author worth their salt attempts at one point in their writing journey (whether they're published or not is something completely different). It actually started out as Larry (which is evident by the first few paragraphs I'm sure) but somehow morphed into a Ziall as soon as Niall stumbled into the story.  
> (and excuse the title please, it's cheesy as hell and has nothing to do with the story)

“He looks like he could kill you with his pinky,” Zayn says seriously, not bothering to look up form his sadly less-then-appetizing school lunch as he speaks to the only other person at the table.

Harry looks up from his only slightly more appetizing sandwich with a confused tilt of his head. “Who are you talking about?” he questions, unable to this of a recent conversation where it was debated if someone could kill him with their pinky or not. 

Zayn rolls his eyes and finally looks up from his lunch with a grumble. “Tommo's newest beau of course,” he responds, nodding toward the more crowded area of the cafeteria.

“Oh,” Harry says as he lets his gaze drift toward where Louis Tomlinson is currently lounging on his newest boyfriend's lap. “Right, yeah, you're probably right about this one,” he continues, dropping his gaze away from the couple and pushing the remainder of his sandwich toward Zayn, suddenly not hungry. 

Zayn opens his mouth to say something rude, Harry's almost certain, but quickly closes it as a grinning blond walks toward their table. “Hey Zayn! Harry!” Niall Horan greets, cheeks pink as Zayn waves back with a slight smile. He stumbles, his hip knocking against Harry's chair as he continues walking toward his own table of friends. 

“So when are you going to have an actual full conversation with him instead of just panting after him like a dog?” Harry questions Zayn, smirking slightly at the face the other male makes. 

“Pot, kettle, I'm sure you've met. And anyway, at least Niall knows my name,” Zayn responds, annoyed at Harry's mildly smug face. 

Now it's Harry's turn to glare, “whatever,” he grumbles, folding his arms tightly across his chest. “Seriously though, you should at least try to hang out or something with Niall. I mean, someone should be getting laid on a regular basis in this relationship and we all know it's not gonna be me,” Harry continues, turning slightly in his chair to see over his shoulder where Niall flushes as red as a rose when Harry catches his eye. “Plus, he's adorable. You could, and _have_ done worse than him,” Harry laughs as he faces Zayn again. 

Zayn looks at the blond over Harry's shoulder and can't help but smile slightly as Niall ducks his head. “He's too good for me, it would never work out,” he says, tone sharp, “I mean, he hangs out with Liam Payne and his little fan-club. That's like, the dictionary definition of _too cool for me_.”

Harry looks at Zayn, incredulous. “He's a giant band geek, he's nowhere _near_ 'too cool' for you, Zayn!” he says, gesturing wildly. 

“Yes he is,” Zayn responds, lips tight and with an air of finality. “Now, have you done the paper for English yet?” he questions, changing the subject quickly.

Harry groans, “Not yet, if I'm being honest I kind of forgot about it.”

“You're an idiot,” Zayn sighs, pulling his notebook out of his bag and pushing it across the table. “Read over what I have written, but if you copy word-for-word I'm gonna kill you,” he says, rolling his eyes as Harry grins bright. 

“You're a lifesaver Zayn, I knew I kept you around for a reason,” Harry sighs, tucking the black notebook into his own bag before letting his gaze drift, once again, toward Louis and his flavor of the week. “Boys _suck,_ Zayn” Harry grumbles as he watches Louis lean into his boyfriend's embrace and kiss him full on the mouth and in view of anyone with eyes.

“I know,” Zayn agrees, nodding his head as he bites into Harry's abandoned sandwich. 

**************************************************

“Harry! Wait up!” A voice calls the next morning as Harry's slowly trudging through the grassy hill just off of the school grounds.

Turning slowly on his heel Harry raises a hand and waves at Niall. “Hey, what's up?” he questions with a friendly smile.

Niall seems to shrink away from the question as his cheeks are tinted a light pink. “I, uhmm, was wondering if, I mean, it's okay if he's not but I just...is Zayn...is he like, single?” he stutters out, hands gripping the straps on his backpack so tightly that his knuckles turn white. 

Harry grins at the embarrassed male, cheeks dimpling. “he is actually, he's _very_ single,” he replies, a small smile forming on Niall's face as he does. 

“Is he...interested in anyone then?” Niall questions, leaning forward on his toes a bit.

Harry lets his gaze trace over Niall's face before he answers, “Not sure, you'd have to ask him yourself.”

Niall's shoulders slump, “Oh, well, I..uhmm...I will I guess. Eventually. Maybe,” he mumbles, gaze locked over Harry's shoulder. “I've gotta go, I have to, uhmm, meet Liam. But thanks, Harry!” he says quickly as he turns in the direction of the school and hurries away. 

“Strange boy,” Harry mumbles, turning back around to continue walking up the hill and nearly running into Zayn after a few steps. “Zayn!” he shouts, flinging his arms around the other male's shoulders in a hug, “I missed you!”

“Don't be weird, just tell me why Niall was talking to you,” Zayn says sounding tired as he hugs the younger male back. 

Harry pulls out of the hug with a dramatic huff. “Me just being me isn't enough? How very dare you?!?” he gasps, walking past the visibly tired male to continue his trek up the hill. 

Zayn grumbles and follows Harry back the way he just came because he needs another cigarette if he's going to be have to deal with an energetic Harry. “Styles, I swear, just tell me!...please?” he asks, two seconds away from begging as they come to the edge of the smoking area. 

“Niall just wanted to know if you were single and interested in anyone,” Harry admits, mumbling around the cigarette in his mouth.

“And?” Zayn prompts, lighting his own smoke before handing his lighter over. 

“And I told him that you were very single but that he'd have to ask you if were interested in anyone,” Harry responds exhaling smoke and handing Zayn's lighter back to him as he makes a face. “I always forget that I hate smoking,” he mumbles, mostly to himself as he takes a shorter drag than before. 

Zayn lets out a snort of laughter. “You are both an asshole and an idiot. Why smoke if you hate it, first of all, and second of all, I'm not very single, I'm just _single._ Being _very_ single makes e sound desperate! But, uh, thanks for not selling me out,” Zayn says, reaching over to squeeze Harry's bicep in thanks. 

“I smoke to spend quality time with you, twat, and I only do it in the mornings so I'm not desensitized to the taste of _ass_ that tobacco smoke has. But anyway, _of course_ I wouldn't sell you out. You think I want to be the one to tell Niall Horan that you want his dick in and around your mouth? Because let me tell you, I try not to think too hard about it,” Harry says ducking away from Zayn's attempt to punch his arm. 

Zayn scowls around his nearly finished cigarette as he watches Harry toss his own onto the ground, stepping on it to put the cherry out. “You are a foul, _foul_ boy,” he mumbles finally, rolling his eyes as he drops his cigarette butt the the ground, stepping on it with his scuffed boot. “C'mon, let's go before the stoners come for their pre-school smoke-up session,” he says finally, jerking his head toward the approaching gaggle of their classmates.

**************************************************

“Niall, I swear to God if you don't stop fidgeting and messing up the runs I'm going to murder you with your own strings,” Ed snaps as Niall's fingers slip on the fret board for the tenth time in as many minutes. 

Niall wrinkles his nose, annoyed, “sorry,” he sighs. Readjusting his fingers he strums the correct note this time and then lets his hands fall away from his guitar, “I'm just nervous, God I feel like I'm going to vomit,” Niall groans. 

“Oh, why? What's going on?” Ed asks, setting his own guitar aside and grabbing Niall's to do the same. 

Niall swallows around a gag and makes a face before admitting, “I think I'm actually going to...ask Zayn out? I'm not sure but I think he's maybe, possibly, interested in me.”

Ed raises his eyebrows in surprise. “No way, this is the same dude that you've been pissing yourself over for the past three years, right? Go Nialler!” he says, pride lacing his tone. 

“Shut up Ed, oh God, I don't think I can do this. What if he's _not_ actually interested in me and I'm going to make a fool of myself by practically throwing myself at him,” Niall chokes out, doubling over to put his head between his knees as Ed rubs lightly at his shoulder.

“He'd be dumb and blind to turn you down Niall, I promise, if I were him I'd say yes as soon as you asked,” Ed says soothingly as Niall tries to breath slowly and not loose everything he ate for lunch. 

Niall groans lowly. “You're my mate, you're supposed to say shit like that,” he says quietly, his breathing slowly evening out. 

“You're asking him to hang out, it's not like you're proposing marriage, Niall, it'll be fine,” Ed points out lightly, “Now do I need to get Liam down here to talk you out of your own head or are you alright now?” Ed questions, laughing as Niall shakes his head vigorously. 

“No, no, no, Liam doesn't know what I'm planning and I'd like to keep it that way! At least until I _actually_ get the nerve to ask Zayn. D'you remember how awful he was at wooing Danielle? It was like watching a car crash in slow motion!” the blond male practically shouts, his hands flailing and one accidentally catching on Ed's shoulder. 

“Well,” Ed laughs, tears in his eyes, “at lease you know that you'll be better at wooing than Liam was. And hey! If Liam can get a hottie like Dani then you'll have no problem pulling Malik.”

“Right, right, I can't do worse than Liam,” Niall agrees, sitting up and forcing a smile, “It'll be fine.”

**************************************************

“If I never see another piece of chalk again it'll be too soon,” Zayn complains as he stands next to Harry's locker, waiting for the younger male to grab everything he needs for the weekend from his locker. 

Harry looks at Zayn's face and laughs, reaching toward his cheek to smudge away a bit of chalk dust. “Well, the chalk seems like it couldn't get enough of you. Why were you using chalk anyway?” he asks, stuffing one last book into his bag before zipping it shut and slamming his locker closed. 

“Way wanted help with this chalk mural thing he's planning, I'm not actually sure I volunteered, I just think he handed me a piece and _made_ me help,” Zayn replies, rolling his eyes as he and Harry walk side-by-side out of the main doors of the school.

“Ni—oh shit! Sorry, sorry, I didn't see you down there,” Harry squeals, having tripped over someone's legs. “Oh! Hey Niall,” Harry greets once he's realized who he just stepped on.

“Hey Harry, Zayn...uhmm,” Niall stutters, scrambling to his feet and wiping his sweaty palms against his thigh. “Can I, uh, talk to you for a second?” he continues, forcing himself to make eye contact with the beautiful male standing in front of him. 

Zayn feels his stomach drop as he watches Niall's hands twist in front of him nervously. “Err yeah, I-sure, yes...I'll be right back, Harry,” he says, voice cracking slightly as he motions a few feet away and follows Niall far enough away from Harry that he can't eavesdrop completely. 

“D'you wanna, like, hang-out sometime this weekend?” Niall forces out once they've stopped moving, trying not to give himself the time to freak out. 

Zayn bites his bottom lip, eyes wide at the seemingly random proposition. “I would love to but I'm actually, uhmm, I'm busy this weekend. I promised Harry I'd help with his shift at the bakery and then I'm helping him with the stupid English paper that he hasn't touched since it was assigned. I'm sorry,” Zayn says, actually managing to sound as sorry as he is. 

Niall blinks, his cheeks flushing at the realization that he's just been turned down. “It's fine, yeah, no I totally understand,” he says, shoulders hunched and trying to avoid tearing up until he's as far away from the male in front of him as possible. 

The older male tilts his head slightly, confused at Niall's sudden change in body language for a second before he realizes what his explanation sounded like. “No! I mean, yeah, I'm busy _this_ weekend but what about next weekend? I wasn't saying _no_ to you, Niall, I was just saying maybe another time,” Zayn says, slightly panicky and face hot. 

“Oh,” Niall breathes out, a smile slowly tugging the corners of his mouth up, “I...yeah, I'm free next weekend too.”

“Great! That's, yeah, that's awesome,” Zayn grins back. 

“Awesome,” Niall echoes, bouncing on his toes slightly, unable to contain his excitement. “Can I have your number? I mean, so we can figure out what we want to do next weekend,” he questions, eyes bright. 

Zayn laughs slightly and holds out his phone, grabbing Niall's as he replies, “well, I suppose.”

“Right, so I should probably go but I'll, uhmm, I'll text you later, yeah?” Niall says happily, itching to find Ed and gloat that he didn't vomit.

“Yeah, okay,” Zayn responds, smile bright as he waves goodbye, Niall walking backward until he stumbles over a sprinkler head as he to waves. Zayn chokes on a laugh as he hears Harry step up next to him. “Don't say a word,” he warns, turning his head to glance at Harry and recognizing the look on his face. 

Harry frowns, “But-” he starts, stopping when Zayn slaps a hand over his mouth. 

“Don't,” Zayn repeats, giving him a look as he lets his hand drop and then walking off in the direction of his shitty little car.

Harry grumbles, sticking his tongue out at the older male's back. “Fine,” he agrees, using his long legs to easily catch up, “but only because if I don't you'll make me walk home and my bag weighs the same as a toddler.”

**************************************************

“I did it!” Niall shouts, grinning as he throws open the door to Ed's garage which, sadly, double as their practice space.

“Did what?” Liam questions just as loudly, causing Niall to flinch in surprise. 

“Good on you mate,” Ed congratulates, not bothering to look up from his guitar as he continues to replace his busted strings. 

“What did you do? And why does Ed know all about it? And _why didn't anyone tell **me**_?” Liam questions as Niall drops onto the second hand couch next to him. 

Niall laughs, dropping his head to rest against Liam's shoulder. “I have tentative date plans because I'm awesome,” he says, wiggling in his seat in an awkward attempt at a victory dance. 

“What? With who?” Liam questions, jerking into an upright position and jostling Niall off of his shoulder. 

“Ugh,” Niall groans, sitting up, “you'll never guess!” He smiles widely, “He's lovely and wonderful and I've wanted him for _years_.”

Liam gives Niall a look. “Zayn Malik? Zayn Malik asked you out?” he questions, confusion coloring his tone. 

“Don't sound so surprised!” Niall complains, smacking Liam's shoulder. “In fact, I'll have you know that _I_ asked _him_ out! With actual words!” he says, Liam rolling his eyes at the other male's excitement. 

Ed sets his newly re-stringed guitar in it's stand and drapes himself across Liam and Niall's laps. “I'm proud of you, Niall! If you used real words you're already done a better job than Liam!” he laughs, poking at Liam's face in an attempt to bother him. 

“Shut up, Ed, seriously, so I made a fool of myself at least it worked out in the long-run,” Liam complains, smacking at Ed's hand with a grimace. 

Niall laughs, “Dude, you didn't just make a fool of yourself; didn't you puke after you asked Dani out? Like, right in front of her and the rest of her friends?”

Liam scowls, his cheeks flushing a bright red, “I thought we agreed never to talk about that again.”

“Not likely,” Ed and Niall say together causing Liam to grumble. 

“That's not the point though,” Ed says after his and Niall's laughter has dies down. “The point is that little Niall is growing up right before our very eyes!” he continues. 

Niall sticks his tongue out at the male half lying across his lap but, before he can say anything, the door to the garage opens. “Josh!” Niall shouts, pushing Ed's legs off of his lap to jump up and hug the new arrival.

Josh catches Niall in a hug easily. “Niall, Ed, Liam, how've you lads been then?” he questions, grinning as he and Niall part and head back toward the couch, Josh perching on the arm next to Liam. 

“Well,” Ed starts, “While you were off traveling the world little Niall here was growing some balls.”

Josh rolls his eyes, “I wan't off traveling the world, I was visiting my Nana in London. And anyway, what d'you _mean_ Niall's grown balls?”

Liam chimes in, “He apparently finally got the nerve to ask out Zayn Malik after..what? Three years?”

“No shit?” Josh questions, looking at Niall as the other male nods. “Good on you then! Now maybe you'll stop writing songs about unrequited love with Eddy here,” he says jokingly, reaching down to poke the top of Ed's head. 

“Oh shuddup,” Ed says, nose wrinkling as he finally decides to sit up, squeezed between Niall and Liam. “Speaking of songs, I wrote a new part to that one that we were working on a few weeks ago,” he says, changing the subject and reaching for his bag all at once. 

“Nice,” Liam says as he and the others gather around Ed's notebook, speaking in hushed tones about the music.

**************************************************

The following Friday comes quickly for Zayn, the thought of going on a date with Niall making his stomach flip with nerves. “Tell me why I agreed to this again?” he begs Harry while the other male digs through Zayn's closet, trying to find a date-worthy outfit. 

“I thought _you_ asked _him_ to dinner and a movie? And anyway, you did it because you like him and you want to kiss him and mostly because one of us deserves to be in a relationship with our crush,” Harry responds standing up straight with three different colored button-ups. “And don't you have any decent, non-paint stained shirts that also aren't plaid?” Harry questions, tossing the shirts in his hand onto the floor. He rolls his eyes and delves back into Zayn's closet because he's a wonderful friend (but mostly because he's pretty sure that if Zayn moves from his horizontal position on the floor he's going to vomit).

Zayn groans pathetically, draping his forearm over his eyes. “Yes, I asked him to dinner and a movie, but only because we both want to see the new Bond film anyway but then he said ' _it's a date_ ' and I think I'm dying; I can't go tonight,” he says seriously. “And I don't know what I have in my closet that doesn't have paint stains,” Zayn admits with a grimace. 

“If I didn't hate shopping as much as you do I would make you go on an emergency clothes run, as it is here, just where this white shirt...it's not too bad,” Harry says eventually, letting the shirt fall from his hands and onto Zayn's face. 

“Thanks,” Zayn mumbles, “Now leave me to die.”

Harry huffs out an annoyed breath and folds himself onto the floor, curling around Zayn and resting his head on the other male's chest. “You're not _dying_ , Malik, don't be so dramatic! You're going to go, have a wonderful time, get a kiss goodnight, and then come home and wank about it,” Harry says laughingly, letting out a squeak of annoyance when Zayn tugs on his hair. 

“What're your plans for tonight then?” Zayn asks, ignoring Harry's lewd remark for the most part.

“Heard about a party that I might crash,” he admits quietly, tucking his face against Zayn's neck and breathing in the smell of boy, cigarettes, and paint that he's come to associate with his best friend. 

Zayn snorts, “You liar, I know you have tickets to that horrid band you've been trying to convince me to like, I saw them on your calendar the las time I was over for dinner.”

Harry shrugs his shoulders as well as he can while sprawled across Zayn. “Okay fine, I'm going to a gig by myself, so what? All the cool kids do it,” he justifies, digging his fingers into Zayn's side, forcing out a laugh as he tries to wiggle away. 

“Asshole,” Zayn swears, pushing Harry of of him to sit up, the t-shirt that Harry dropped on his face falling and dropping onto his lap. 

“Seriously though, your date will go great,” Harry insists, stretching out on his back and groaning as his back pops. 

**************************************************

“I'm freaking out,” Niall says, his voice cracking slightly as his hand tightens around the phone pressed to his ear. 

“You'll be fine,” Liam insists, sounding certain. “It's just dinner and a movie, Bond even, you can't mess it up,” he continues as Niall starts to pace. 

Niall lets out a tiny helpless noise. “I really like him but what if I'm not what he wants?” he asks, his eyes finding the clock and widening when he sees he has ten minutes until Zayn's supposed to pick him up. “ _Oh God,_ ” he groans stopping to lean against the wall and take a deep breath, his stomach flipping.

“Niall, it'll be fine, and if he does anything that you don't like the boys and I can take care of him,” Liam says, trying to be comforting but only managing to sound vaguely threatening. “Anyway, when's he picking you up?” he questions, pulling away from the phone slightly to mumble to someone on the other end. 

“Ten minutes,” Niall responds, his eyes squeezed shut as he breathes shakily through his nose. “I can't do this,” he whines as he readjust his grip on his phone. 

Liam lets out his own huff of breath. “Yes you can, and you will, so text me after and let Dani and I know how it goes, yeah? You're good, mate, just enjoy yourself,” he says before saying goodbye and hanging up in the sudden way that he tends to do. 

“ _Lord,_ ” Niall groans, tucking his phone back into his pocket and glancing up, catching his own reflection in the mirror across from where he's leaning against the wall. “It's fine, it's _totally_ fine,” he breathes, a hand reaching up to run through his hair as he tries to convince himself that he's not going to fuck up. Just as he opens his mouth to say something else to his reflection the door bell rings and Niall's stomach drops to somewhere in the vicinity of his knees. Going over to the door, Niall decides to just get over with it and tugs the door open so fast that it slams against his toe and he wants to die at the embarrassing pained squeak he lets out. 

“Err, hey Niall,” Zayn smiles hesitantly as Niall gives him a pained smile, his cheeks as red as the polo shirt he's wearing. “You look...great,” he admits, his eyes taking in the way Niall's shirt fits across his chest. 

“I...thanks, Zayn, _fucking oww,_ ” Niall manages to spit out. “You look awesom, I mean, you always look awesome but...yeah,” he comments, cutting himself off before he really starts to ramble. He sticks a hand in his pocket to double check that he has his key and then crosses the threshold, yelling a quick goodbye to his mother and locking the door behind himself, managing to come chest-to-chest with Zayn in the process. 

“ _Sorry,_ sorry,” Zayn says, flustered, as he takes a step back to give Niall enough room to stand between he and the door comfortably. “So, dinner, I was, uh, thinking Nando's? Unless you want something different,” he continues, knowing that Niall won't turn down Nando's due to him possibly having done some snooping. 

Niall smiles wide and bright. “Nando's _and_ Bond? You certainly know the way to my heart,” he says, cheeks slowly loosing their embarrassed flush.

“Well,” Zayn smiles, reaching out to grab Niall's hand, “Are you ready?”

Niall squeezes Zayn's hand as he allows himself to be lead toward Zayn's car. “I was born ready,” he grins back, his stomach fliipping when Zayn opens the door for him like a proper gentleman. 

“Me too,” Zayn agrees, closing the door behind Niall carefully and then rushing to the driver's side. “Thanks for agreeing to this date, by the way,” he says seriously, turning to look at Niall as he turns the key in the ignition. 

Niall bites his bottom lip gently against another smile. “Thanks for asking me,” he replies before wiggling slightly in his seat to the beat of the song playing, unable to contain himself when he recognizes the song. 

Zayn takes a deep breath and watches Niall out of the corner of his eye, unable to stop a stupid grin from forming on his face. “I'd be dumb not to,” he says almost too quietly to be heard as he pulls onto the street that will take them toward the restaurant.

**Author's Note:**

> I know, I know, it ends abruptly. Things you're probably wondering: How did the date go? Was the movie interesting? Was there a KISS? The answers are: wonderfully, I wouldn't know considering I haven't seen it, and of course there was a kiss!  
> I'm not all that sure that I'm going to continue this story considering it's got a finished plot line so it's *technically* complete. I will say that I might continue in this universe (especially considering it was supposed to be Larry and that went to shit) but probably only if people seem to like it. That being said, if you like the story, let me know please? Either here or on my tumblr (which is on my profile page).


End file.
